Rocking the Cradle of Sexual Politics:
What Happened When Women Said Incest
by Louis Armstrong

This is an unsettling and very important analysis of our failure as a society to deal with incest in a way that benefits and protects children. This book is revealing in explaining the "sexual politics" around how incest is handled. While we have "treated" the victim/survivor, we have in large part failed to address the enormous problem of the misuse of power by the perpetrator. The victim is victimized first by the perpetrator and then repeatedly by the various systems/industries (medical, legal, therapeutic) that are designed to help.

This is NOT an unemotional discussion of abstract issues; the author first wrote of her own personal experience with incest in her 1978 book, Kiss Daddy Goodnight. Since then she has seen incest go from a taboo topic to one that is voyeuristically displayed on talk shows and tabloids. This book is an exhortation to stop and take a serious look at what CAUSES incest, not just focus on what incest causes in the lives of those who suffer this experience. Like many serious issues, incest is, of course, an intensely personal issue; but it is ALSO a societal issue that needs to be addressed by everyone who cares about the well-being of children.